We Are Unbreakable
by kurashikaru
Summary: There has always been a boys basketball team at Seirin, but what if there was to be a girl's team as well? Join as Emiko Sasaki, a former pop idol, is recruited into the new girls team by Kyoko Takahashi. Having never played before, Emiko is a complete newbie to the game. Will she become a basketball star or just another basketball failure?
1. Ch 1 - Seirin High

Today was absolutely beautiful was all the caramel haired figure of Emiko Sasaki could think about. As she strolled through the front gate of the school, cherry blossoms were falling all around the recruitment stands of the campus clubs and extracurricular activities set up at the school's entrance. Posters, stalls and students were all huddled up in the small opening area, which made for quite a mess of people. Still, this was what happened on an opening day right?

_Should I join one?_ The brunette pondered to herself, while keeping her head down. Even though it had been at least two years since she was known as Emi-chan, the famous pop idol, it was still a slightly bit nerve wracking going out in public. Sure, she had been recognized a few times during her daily activities and whatnot, but now she was going to be attending a school full teenage girls and boys, which was the age group most of her fans belonged to back in the day. _Oh well, _she thought to herself. _You can't hide forever I guess..._

_"Interested in rugby?" _

_"Ever played shogi?"_

_"You gotta play baseball if you're Japanese!"_

Those were only a few of the shouted words she could hear amongst the loud and bustling crowd. It didn't really help that she was so short either, because trying to find your way through a sea of people was especially hard when you couldn't see where you were going.

Her eyes drifted to a blue-haired boy that was quite a lot shorter than the others in the crowd. Noticing that he was ducking himself in and out of the crowd effortlessly while reading a book meant that he probably wouldn't notice if she followed him for a little while.

Wading through people while trying not to lose sight him, she had accidently knocked over quite a few people without noticing. She spun around and yelled back apologies just as she noticed what she'd been doing, hoping that this hadn't already made a bad impression of herself. As Emiko went back to follow the boy, she realized that he had already disappeared. "Great, just great! Now I'm stuck..." she mumbled to herself, before she heard an annoyed voice in the distance.

"What do you mean no girls' basketball team?" the voice exclaimed, Emiko fighting through the crowd to get a closer look at the situation. When she finally broke through the sea of people, there stood a pale purplette with her hands on the desk of the basketball recruitment table. The brunette girl behind the desk was giving her a sorry frown as she spoke up.

"Well, you see, the basketball club was only formed last year. We didn't even think of starting up a girls team. There also seems to be a lack of girls interested so..."

"I'll get a team together." she said. "And it'll be the best team you've ever seen. So I think if I can manage to get a team, then you can manage to get us up and running. Deal?"

The short haired brunette looked at the boy next to her with a hesitant look, him giving the girl leaning on the table a small smile. "Alright, if you can manage to get 10 girls together for a team, no more, no less, we'll make sure to create your girl's team. But, you're going to have to get it done by the end of this week, otherwise they won't take the new team forms." he told her, the girl then standing up straight.

She nodded enthusiastically, tightening the band around her ponytail while turning her back to them. "I'm going to start with... you!"

The girl was now pointing at the short brunette, giving a smile as she walked over and held out her hand. "Kyoko Takahashi, first year." she said as Emiko slid her hand into Kyoko's. "You see, I'm trying to recruit some members for a girls basketball team, because sadly enough they didn't think about the girls when making a basketball team." she frowned, putting her hands on her hips.

"So what do you say? Wanna join?" she grinned, causing the small brunette to get a bit flustered.

"Um, I'd love to but..." she began, before she was cut off by the taller girl in front of her. "Great!" Kyoko grinned, clasping her hands together before turning around to yell back at the basketball recruitment stand.

"You see that! Two members down, eight to go!" she yelled back, giving them a sarcastic smile, which they returned with a grin.

_Gosh, this girl is pretty intense..._ Emiko thought to herself, but still smiled. Little did the girl who just recruit her know that the brunette had never played a game of basketball in her entire life, let alone knew how to. She did happen to have an older sister who did, but that was another story entirely.

She sighed, realizing the school bell had finally rung. Emiko adjusted her hand on the handle of her satchel and began to walk towards the main building. She had been proven wrong. High school was anything but ordinary.

* * *

"Emi-Chaaaaaan~!" "Emi~!" "Please sign this!" "I was your biggest fan!" was all Emiko could hear when she walked into the cafeteria. She put a hand to her face and groaned. So much for living a normal high school life. Even though she was slightly annoyed by this outburst of people, she did sign some autographs for some of the students before ordering her food. Just as she was about to slip out of the cafeteria stealthily, the brunette saw the waving figure of Kyoko Takahashi, munching away at... was that a plasic bag full of chip packets?

"Hey." she said casually, giving Emiko a small smile. "I never got your name back there at the club recruitment."

"Oh, um, about that... I..." she started, before she was once again cut off by the purple haired girl.

"Are you saying you don't want to play? Awh man, but I've already handed in the club registration form..." she huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "But if you really don't want to I'll find someone else."

The brunette shook her head furiously. "No, it's not that... The problem is... How do I say this without looking like a total loser..." she pondered to herself.

Kyoko put a hand to her face. "You don't know how to play do you?" she groaned, letting out a small sigh. The two were silent for a moment, waiting for one of them to say something. Emiko gave a small nod, hoping that would help clear the akwardness just a little.

Kyoko cleared her throat and grinned. "Doesn't matter. Trials are this time next week. Just come along and give it your best. If you suck you suck, nothing I can do about it." she said, still a bit disappointed that she managed to recruit a novice in the sport. "Emiko Sasaki." the brunette said, holding out her hand.

"Got it. See you around Sasaki. Or... Emi-chan? That's what everyone seemed to be calling you. What a lame nickname. How do they even know you anyway?" Kyoko said, letting out a small laugh after she had finished chewing the chips she had shoved in her mouth. She looked down at her watch and let out a small sigh of disapproval."You can tell me later, I've got some things to sort out for the club. Remember, 5pm, next Tuesday. See you then! " On that note, the purplette figure strolled out of the cafeteria, leaving Emiko just a little dumbfounded.

Emiko stared at the floor for a few seconds. "This has to be the first person not to know who I am." she said to herself, slightly shocked. The girl had to admit, the feeling of not being recognised was... weird. As she snapped back into reality, Emiko realised that she was still standing in the middle of the cafeteria. Without speaking, she slowly weaved through the crowds before leaving the building. For the first time ever, she felt as if she might have a real friend.

* * *

"Maya-chan, I'm home!" Emiko yelled as she slipped her feet out of her school shoes and into a pair of slippers. Slowly stepping up the stairs and walking down the hallway, she turned to a door to her left, pushing it open and revealing a girl a couple of years older than herself lying in a white bed. The brunette gave the other girl a small smile, before wandering over to the bed and sitting down.

"Hey Emi, I was getting a bit lonely here." the girl laughed, pressing a button next to her bed to bring herself up into a sitting position. Emiko just smiled softly at as she patted the duvet next to herself.

"Sorry Maya, I got lost on my way home and had to call a friend. I have to say it was rather embarrassing." the brunette laughed, lifting herself off the bed once again.

"Is there anything I can get you? Water? Food? T.V remote?" Emiko asked, receiving a small nod from the other girl for a reply.

"Can you get me my basketball magazines and videos? Pretty please?" Maya smiled, and Emiko became a little hesitant.

"Sure. I'll be a second." the small brunette said quietly, slowly moving towards the door. Pausing for a moment, she put her hand on the door frame beside her.

Maya had been involved in a major traffic accident when the two had been younger, which sadly enough left the elder sibling without the use of her legs. Maya Sasaki was well known for one thing other than being the older sister of Emi: that she was a fantastic basketball player. She had already been on her way to becoming part of the national Japanese women's team at the age of 16, and even competing for the country in the olympics. But, here she was, confined to a bed for most of her daily hours, wasting away to nothing.

"Maya…" Emi started slowly, looking down at the floor. The room was silent for a few seconds before the younger brunette continued on. "You see… At school today… I was asked to join a basketball club. I… I've never played basketball… What if I make a fool out of myself?" she said quickly, sounding slightly alarmed. _Would Maya be mad at me for joining a club of a sport she loved most? I should've just kept my mouth shut! _she thought to herself, feeling overly guilty.

The older sibling let out a laugh. "Emi, don't be silly! Come here!" she grinned, ushering the girl back over to the bed. Emiko slowly turned around and made her way over to the bed, before being pulled into a hug by her sister. "You'll be absolutely fine. You've got the Sasaki blood, you've got to have some basketball talent!" Maya smiled, pulling away from the hug.

"And I bet you're thinking I'd be mad, ay? You're a silly one y'know that?" the older brunette said, before her eyes lit up with an idea.

"I'll be your coach! That sounds great! You got it? Good!" Maya said sternly, causing Emi's eyes to light up in the same way. The smaller brunette nodded furiously.

"Training starts today! Would you please fetch me my wheel chair my dearest sister." she said jokingly, causing Emi to laugh. Obediently, Emiko walked over to the wheel chair over in the corner of the room and wheeled it over. Helping her sister get into the chair, the two were off down into the backyard. Emiko was just so glad that her sister wanted to help her, and having an ex nation champion as a sister would give her and even better chance at learning some skill in basketball.

Grinning as she ran down the stairs to meet her sister in the backyard, she couldn't help but let out an excited giggle. Maybe being asked to join the basketball club wasn't such a bad thing at all.


	2. Ch 2 - Basketball Exam?

Today was absolutely beautiful was all the caramel haired figure of Emiko Sasaki could think about. As she strolled through the front gate of the school, cherry blossoms were falling all around the recruitment stands of the campus clubs and extracurricular activities set up at the school's entrance. Posters, stalls and students were all huddled up in the small opening area, which made for quite a mess of people. Still, this was what happened on an opening day right?

_Should I join one?_ The brunette pondered to herself, while keeping her head down. Even though it had been at least two years since she was known as Emi-chan, the famous pop idol, it was still a slightly bit nerve wracking going out in public. Sure, she had been recognized a few times during her daily activities and whatnot, but now she was going to be attending a school full teenage girls and boys, which was the age group most of her fans belonged to back in the day. _Oh well, _she thought to herself. _You can't hide forever I guess..._

_"Interested in rugby?" _

_"Ever played shogi?"_

_"You gotta play baseball if you're Japanese!"_

Those were only a few of the shouted words she could hear amongst the loud and bustling crowd. It didn't really help that she was so short either, because trying to find your way through a sea of people was especially hard when you couldn't see where you were going.

Her eyes drifted to a blue-haired boy that was quite a lot shorter than the others in the crowd. Noticing that he was ducking himself in and out of the crowd effortlessly while reading a book meant that he probably wouldn't notice if she followed him for a little while.

Wading through people while trying not to lose sight him, she had accidently knocked over quite a few people without noticing. She spun around and yelled back apologies just as she noticed what she'd been doing, hoping that this hadn't already made a bad impression of herself. As Emiko went back to follow the boy, she realized that he had already disappeared. "Great, just great! Now I'm stuck..." she mumbled to herself, before she heard an annoyed voice in the distance.

"What do you mean no girls' basketball team?" the voice exclaimed, Emiko fighting through the crowd to get a closer look at the situation. When she finally broke through the sea of people, there stood a pale purplette with her hands on the desk of the basketball recruitment table. The brunette girl behind the desk was giving her a sorry frown as she spoke up.

"Well, you see, the basketball club was only formed last year. We didn't even think of starting up a girls team. There also seems to be a lack of girls interested so..."

"I'll get a team together." she said. "And it'll be the best team you've ever seen. So I think if I can manage to get a team, then you can manage to get us up and running. Deal?"

The short haired brunette looked at the boy next to her with a hesitant look, him giving the girl leaning on the table a small smile. "Alright, if you can manage to get 10 girls together for a team, no more, no less, we'll make sure to create your girl's team. But, you're going to have to get it done by the end of this week, otherwise they won't take the new team forms." he told her, the girl then standing up straight.

She nodded enthusiastically, tightening the band around her ponytail while turning her back to them. "I'm going to start with... you!"

The girl was now pointing at the short brunette, giving a smile as she walked over and held out her hand. "Kyoko Takahashi, first year." she said as Emiko slid her hand into Kyoko's. "You see, I'm trying to recruit some members for a girls basketball team, because sadly enough they didn't think about the girls when making a basketball team." she frowned, putting her hands on her hips.

"So what do you say? Wanna join?" she grinned, causing the small brunette to get a bit flustered.

"Um, I'd love to but..." she began, before she was cut off by the taller girl in front of her. "Great!" Kyoko grinned, clasping her hands together before turning around to yell back at the basketball recruitment stand.

"You see that! Two members down, eight to go!" she yelled back, giving them a sarcastic smile, which they returned with a grin.

_Gosh, this girl is pretty intense..._ Emiko thought to herself, but still smiled. Little did the girl who just recruit her know that the brunette had never played a game of basketball in her entire life, let alone knew how to. She did happen to have an older sister who did, but that was another story entirely.

She sighed, realizing the school bell had finally rung. Emiko adjusted her hand on the handle of her satchel and began to walk towards the main building. She had been proven wrong. High school was anything but ordinary.

* * *

"Emi-Chaaaaaan~!" "Emi~!" "Please sign this!" "I was your biggest fan!" was all Emiko could hear when she walked into the cafeteria. She put a hand to her face and groaned. So much for living a normal high school life. Even though she was slightly annoyed by this outburst of people, she did sign some autographs for some of the students before ordering her food. Just as she was about to slip out of the cafeteria stealthily, the brunette saw the waving figure of Kyoko Takahashi, munching away at... was that a plasic bag full of chip packets?

"Hey." she said casually, giving Emiko a small smile. "I never got your name back there at the club recruitment."

"Oh, um, about that... I..." she started, before she was once again cut off by the purple haired girl.

"Are you saying you don't want to play? Awh man, but I've already handed in the club registration form..." she huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "But if you really don't want to I'll find someone else."

The brunette shook her head furiously. "No, it's not that... The problem is... How do I say this without looking like a total loser..." she pondered to herself.

Kyoko put a hand to her face. "You don't know how to play do you?" she groaned, letting out a small sigh. The two were silent for a moment, waiting for one of them to say something. Emiko gave a small nod, hoping that would help clear the akwardness just a little.

Kyoko cleared her throat and grinned. "Doesn't matter. Trials are this time next week. Just come along and give it your best. If you suck you suck, nothing I can do about it." she said, still a bit disappointed that she managed to recruit a novice in the sport. "Emiko Sasaki." the brunette said, holding out her hand.

"Got it. See you around Sasaki. Or... Emi-chan? That's what everyone seemed to be calling you. What a lame nickname. How do they even know you anyway?" Kyoko said, letting out a small laugh after she had finished chewing the chips she had shoved in her mouth. She looked down at her watch and let out a small sigh of disapproval."You can tell me later, I've got some things to sort out for the club. Remember, 5pm, next Tuesday. See you then! " On that note, the purplette figure strolled out of the cafeteria, leaving Emiko just a little dumbfounded.

Emiko stared at the floor for a few seconds. "This has to be the first person not to know who I am." she said to herself, slightly shocked. The girl had to admit, the feeling of not being recognised was... weird. As she snapped back into reality, Emiko realised that she was still standing in the middle of the cafeteria. Without speaking, she slowly weaved through the crowds before leaving the building. For the first time ever, she felt as if she might have a real friend.

* * *

"Maya-chan, I'm home!" Emiko yelled as she slipped her feet out of her school shoes and into a pair of slippers. Slowly stepping up the stairs and walking down the hallway, she turned to a door to her left, pushing it open and revealing a girl a couple of years older than herself lying in a white bed. The brunette gave the other girl a small smile, before wandering over to the bed and sitting down.

"Hey Emi, I was getting a bit lonely here." the girl laughed, pressing a button next to her bed to bring herself up into a sitting position. Emiko just smiled softly at as she patted the duvet next to herself.

"Sorry Maya, I got lost on my way home and had to call a friend. I have to say it was rather embarrassing." the brunette laughed, lifting herself off the bed once again.

"Is there anything I can get you? Water? Food? T.V remote?" Emiko asked, receiving a small nod from the other girl for a reply.

"Can you get me my basketball magazines and videos? Pretty please?" Maya smiled, and Emiko became a little hesitant.

"Sure. I'll be a second." the small brunette said quietly, slowly moving towards the door. Pausing for a moment, she put her hand on the door frame beside her.

Maya had been involved in a major traffic accident when the two had been younger, which sadly enough left the elder sibling without the use of her legs. Maya Sasaki was well known for one thing other than being the older sister of Emi: that she was a fantastic basketball player. She had already been on her way to becoming part of the national Japanese women's team at the age of 16, and even competing for the country in the olympics. But, here she was, confined to a bed for most of her daily hours, wasting away to nothing.

"Maya…" Emi started slowly, looking down at the floor. The room was silent for a few seconds before the younger brunette continued on. "You see… At school today… I was asked to join a basketball club. I… I've never played basketball… What if I make a fool out of myself?" she said quickly, sounding slightly alarmed. _Would Maya be mad at me for joining a club of a sport she loved most? I should've just kept my mouth shut! _she thought to herself, feeling overly guilty.

The older sibling let out a laugh. "Emi, don't be silly! Come here!" she grinned, ushering the girl back over to the bed. Emiko slowly turned around and made her way over to the bed, before being pulled into a hug by her sister. "You'll be absolutely fine. You've got the Sasaki blood, you've got to have some basketball talent!" Maya smiled, pulling away from the hug.

"And I bet you're thinking I'd be mad, ay? You're a silly one y'know that?" the older brunette said, before her eyes lit up with an idea.

"I'll be your coach! That sounds great! You got it? Good!" Maya said sternly, causing Emi's eyes to light up in the same way. The smaller brunette nodded furiously.

"Training starts today! Would you please fetch me my wheel chair my dearest sister." she said jokingly, causing Emi to laugh. Obediently, Emiko walked over to the wheel chair over in the corner of the room and wheeled it over. Helping her sister get into the chair, the two were off down into the backyard. Emiko was just so glad that her sister wanted to help her, and having an ex nation champion as a sister would give her and even better chance at learning some skill in basketball.

Grinning as she ran down the stairs to meet her sister in the backyard, she couldn't help but let out an excited giggle. Maybe being asked to join the basketball club wasn't such a bad thing at all.


	3. Ch 3 - Trials 'Moron'

_I wonder what that was all about… _Emiko thought to herself as she bounced the basketball she had taken to the trials on her way home. It turns out she didn't need her basketball at all since they weren't actually 'trying out' today, but were instead being analysed by the coach for a whole hour. It was a little weird, but Emiko had guessed that was what was done in a sporting team. The only thing really interesting that happened was Kyoko's reaction to that random boy. It seemed as if they had some kind of history or something. Eh, it wasn't her business in the first place, so she didn't really fancy getting into it.

Humming the tune to one of her songs she composed during her time as an idol, Emiko had found herself almost skipping down the street, all while bouncing a basketball. Of course, she was not coordinated to keep up this extreme multi tasking for more than 30 seconds, and just to her extreme luck she fell into some random bush on the sidewalk. Luckily, this bush was outside a shop that happened to be closed, saving herself the embarrassment of explaining how she ended up in their bush.

After around five minutes of walking down an empty street, she finally arrived at her front door step. Slipping her school shoes off and replacing them with her house slippers, Emiko made her way to the kitchen to find herself some food. As she was raiding the pantry for a snack, she couldn't help but notice a constant bouncing sound in the background. Emiko looked out the kitchen window to see her older sister Maya bouncing a basketball in her wheelchair and taking some shots. Smiling, Emiko decided to go outside to spend some time with her sister.

Maya's face lit up when she saw her younger sister sliding open the back door, and rolled herself over to her. "Hey you!" she grinned, spinning the basketball she had just been shooting with on her finger with ease. "How did your trials go?"

Emiko looked at her for a few seconds, before putting on a fake smile and bouncing the basketball she had been thrown a few times with her left hand. "It wasn't really trials, the coach kind of told us to strip and that was basically it. She apparently took down some measurements and what not, but I dunno. It seemed weird."

The older sister grinned at her, before turning her wheelchair around to face the basketball hoop. "That isn't something that I wasn't used to." she laughed, before placing her hands on her lap. "Shoot the ball Emi. Throw it as hard as you can. From where you're standing, you would be shooting from the equivalent of the three point line. So, I wanna see what potential you really have. I wanna see if you are a real Sasaki." Maya's mood had changed into her basketball state of mind in less than a second, and now Emiko was a little scared to miss.

"I don't know Maya, I'm not you." she began, looking down at the basketball in her hands. "You didn't see all those girls there today. They were huge, you could see their talent from a mile away. You look at me and you see an idol who gave up her dreams. I'm a failure compared to them, I don't even know why I am bothering." Emiko said quickly, before being cut off by her sister. "I asked you to shoot for me, not tell me what happened in your day. Now stop doubting yourself and shoot for me you idiot." Maya laughed, pulling her ponytail to tighten the elastic band holding it up.

Bouncing the ball a few times, she set herself up the way her sister had shown her. Legs shoulder width apart, one hand supporting the ball with the other holding the ball in her palm. Eying down the hoop, the small brunette brought the ball down before bringing her arms up once again, jumping as she released the ball from her hand. As she landed with her arm the shape of a swan, she watched as the ball curved and shot straight through the hoop. Looking at her sister with disbelief, she started jumping up and down in excitement.

"Now if you can do that in a game tomorrow, you will have no problems at all sis, so stop worrying over silly things. You're a Sasaki, basketball runs in your blood. Maybe even more so than myself." The eldest sister smiled, turning to face her sister again. "Do it for me Emi, do what I could never fulfil. I want to see you smiling the way you did when you were performing on those stages in front of all those people." Emiko couldn't help but notice the look of nostalgia in her sisters eyes, nodding her head furiously in reply. "Go get em sis, I'll be waiting to see your basketball jersey in your closet."

* * *

"Sasaki, Emiko?" Riko called, and the brunette stepped forward slowly. "Please stand with Takahashi-san." Emiko slowly walked over to the tall purple haired girl known as Kyoko and stood behind her. The girl grinned and fluffed up her hair, causing Emiko to frown. "Hey there pancake, don't look so down. You'll get premature wrinkles on that cute idol face of yours." she laughed, bending down to meet her eyes, poking her in the cheek repeatedly before having her hand slapped away.

"I don't care about wrinkles. And I thought you didn't know about that. Wait, did you just call me pancake?!" she said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh, everyone knows about that Sasaki. Well, everyone except for me actually." she laughed. "Nah, yesterday I had to ask those lovely boys in the other basketball team to give me a bit of background on you… Pancake? Or no titty committee, what would you prefer?" Kyoko smirked teasingly, causing Emiko to turn away from her. Just before Emiko could bring out a smart remark, Riko spoke up.

"As you all know, today we're going to be conducting our practical trials. I want to see how you play in a game. I want to see you all play your best, and at your strongest. That's why the boy's Seirin team will be your opposition today. Good luck, ladies." Riko told the group, who were now huddled around her. Through the door, they all watched as the boys team filed into the gym. Emiko looked up as she watched Kyoko's laid back expression turn into a fiery, determined glare. It was him again wasn't it.

She stepped forward to confront him. "Bakami, you ready to get yourself slaughtered?" she smirked, cracking her fingers eagerly. Of course, he returned the guesture with a smirk of his own. "You're going to have a hard time even reaching my feet, woman. Don't you even try and intimidate me until you can actually beat me." he replied, before waving her off. Kyoko's temper seemed to be heating up fast, and that wasn't a good thing. "You wish, moron. I'm going to end you and your cockiness. I hope you don't mind." she snarled, before walking back over to Emiko.

"If we don't beat him, I swear I'm going to kill someone." she whispered to the brunette next to her. Emiko looked at the purple haired girl for a few seconds before giving her a nervous smile. "You know, you're talking to someone who has never played a proper game of basketball in her life. Don't count on me to be the one to beat him." she said quietly, the nervous smile still plastered on her face as they began setting up on court. Kyoko grinned randomly, causing Emiko to again become a bit confused. "The bigger the challenge, the more rewarding it'll be when I win." she smirked, as she looked at her jump ball opponent, Kagami Taiga.

Emiko couldn't help but be still as she watched them jump through the air, Kagami stealing the ball and taking off down the court. Just by watching the first few seconds she knew their talent wasn't of the ordinary standard, it was something else. She stood there as she watched Kyoko steal the ball from Kagami and come rolling down the court. Emiko gasped as she realised she was still standing in the middle of the court. Quickly, she sprinted down the other end of the court to be the receiver of Kyoko's pass.

"Pass here!" Emiko said quietly, but luckily Kyoko's hearing was top notch. As the ball came firing towards her, Emiko caught it and went in for the lay up. 1… 2 and… Emiko's heart skipped a beat as she watched the ball bounce off the side of the ring. As she landed on her feet again, she watched as the other team gained possession of the ball, sprinting down the other end and scoring a goal. Emiko, who was now embarrassed, made her way up to the other end of the court to help with defence. Maybe basketball wasn't her thing after all.

Goal after goal was scored for the boys team, causing Kyoko to become just a little… maybe really furious. Kyoko had managed to slip the ball out from one of the other boy's hands and run off down the court, running at full speed. Not expecting such a strong drive, the boys hesitated a bit on defending her, giving her the extra time to take her jump and score a slam dunk for the team. Kyoko grinning as she ran past, Emiko was awestruck. How could someone even play with such strength and speed? It did help that she was taller than Emiko, but even so playing the way she did wasn't easy.

The brunette had been so caught up in her thoughts she almost didn't notice the ball that was flying at her head as Kyoko yelled out her name. Emiko caught the ball after it nearly sliding out of her hands, and took a deep breath. _Okay, legs shoulder width apart, one hand supporting the ball while using the other to shoot. I think that's it… _Emiko told herself as she proceeded to shoot the ball. _Oh, and jump!_

As she released the ball, Kyoko put a hand to her head. "You're a moron you know that, if you can't shoot, you should've waited for me to come and meet you." she told her, karate chopping her on the head. Emiko gasped as the girl hit her on the head. Kyoko, looking overly confused, looked down at the brunette and then back up at the basket. "Where's the ball?" she asked. The boy who was known as Kagami ran past the both of them, before adding on the comment. "She got the ball in, 'moron.' She unlike you doesn't have to rely on her teammates." he told Kyoko, causing her to frown and kick him. "I hate you, don't talk to me." she snarled, before asking Riko to call subs. Riko shook her head and called the group in to finish the scratch match.

* * *

"Hey, Sasaki!" Kyoko called out to the brunette as she was walking out of the school gates ready to head home. Emiko turned around at the sound of her voice, waiting for the purple haired girl to run and catch up to her. "We got into the team, isn't that great?" she grinned, messing her hair up like she had earlier, although it was already messy from running up and down a basketball court. Emiko let out a small sign, causing Kyoko to give her a confused look. "I don't know why I got chosen, that shot from the three point line was a fluke, and all those other ones were flukes as well… Didn't she even see that?" Emiko said quietly, looking down at her feet.

Kyoko gave her a frown, hitting her on the back of the head. "You're a moron, aren't you? You've only been playing for a week and you can already hit the far out shots, man! If we train you up as a proper player, imagine the things you could do!" The brunette looked up for a few seconds before smiling at the taller girl. "I guess maybe you're right… But I still don't know how I feel about all this yet." Emiko said quietly, and Kyoko grabbed her cheeks like she had done at the coach analysis session. "Serious isn't a good look for you pancake. You need to stop overthinking things. Even I don't know how I feel about basketball." she laughed, and Emiko frowned once again. "Why do you keep calling me pancake?!" she growled, clenching her fists together.

"Because of your lack of boobs of course, why else?" she smirked, earning a kick from the small brunette before she had stormed off out of the school. "Hey, that hurt! I was joking! Hey, come back Sasaki! I'm soooooorry~!" she yelled out as she ran after her, almost dropping her books everywhere while she ran. Emiko let out a small laugh as she waited for her to catch up. "I'll race you home." she said, before turning on her heel and sprinting off.

"Hey that's not fair! I demand a recount pancake!" she whined as she ran after her, the two of them laughing and giggling as the ran their separate ways home.


	4. Ch 4 - Overworked

"Dribble, dribble dribble… shoot~!" Emiko yelled out happily as she ran down the court and took a random shot from the three point line. Kyoko groaned as she blocked the small girls shot, giving her an irritated glare before hitting her on the head with the ball. Emiko flopped onto the ground with tears in her eyes, giving a defeated face while muttering how hard basketball was. Kyoko put her hands on her hips.

"You moron you don't just call out what you're doing when you're playing! Are you trying to get the ball stolen from you?!" she said sternly, crouching down to pick Emiko off the floor, who was now exhausted. The two had been at it ever since school ended, and training wasn't meant to start for another half an hour. Weakly, the brunette wandered over to the sideline bench, grabbing her towel and wiping the sweat from her face.

"Sorry, Takahashi-san… I've been trying really hard though! I've been practising every afternoon with my sister, and I've been declining all the offers from my old managers as well just so I can practise! And I've also been spending my lunches in the gym here." she said, giving an honest nod. The purplette looked at her for a few moments before flicking her on the nose. Once again Emiko was running around with her hand on her nose yelling how hard basketball was. Kyoko shook her head, and grabbed the headless chicken girl by the arm.

When Emiko had finally calmed down, Kyoko began to speak. "I know you think that practising is important, but you're a moron if you're taking up all of your free time just to practise. So take a break." she sighed, taking her arm off of the smaller brunette. Emiko gave a small nod and smile, before walking towards the door of the gym. "I'll be right back, okay?" she grinned, before jogging out to the drink fountains.

* * *

As Emi let the water run over her face, she let out a small sigh. It had been nearly a month since she had started at the school, and of course since she joined the Seirin girls' basketball team. Daily training with her sister along with spending nearly every moment of her spare time trying to better her skills was beginning to take a toll on her. The problem was, she didn't feel like all this hard work was paying off. Emiko wanted to be like her sister, but she had completely underestimated her sisters skills. Maybe it would have been better if she had just declined Kyoko's request all along.

"Why is this so hard…" she thought out loud, bringing her head up from the running water, unaware that there was someone taking a drink from the fountain next door to her. She continually muttered to herself her thoughts on the situation, feeling a little annoyed at herself for being the way she was. Pausing for a few moments before looking up, Emiko let out a startled squeak as she noticed the blue haired boy drinking next to her.

"W… Whe… When did you get here?!" she exclaimed, jumping back a little. All she could think about was whether he had heard her speaking to herself or not… He probably thought she was insane now. While her thoughts of embarrassment ran through her head, she somehow seemed to notice the Seirin basketball training shirt he was wearing. Was he a part of the team? She hadn't seen him before so she wasn't sure. To be honest… she didn't know he existed.

The boy looked up at her when he had finally finished drinking from the fountain. "Wouldn't it be boring if it was easy?" he asked her in a flat, monotone voice. She looked at him for a few seconds before looking away. "I… I guess…" she said quietly. Damn, he did hear me speaking to myself… Emiko thought to herself, feeling embarrassed. But, the boy did have a point. Maybe she was just being silly.

"It would indeed be boring without a challenge, that is what I think." he said, before the sound of a phone message tone could be heard. "Uh, excuse me." he said simply, before flipping open his phone and going onto his messages. Emiko, being nosy as usual, couldn't help put peep over at the message he had received which was from… Kise? How did he know Kise?!

"H… How do you know… Kise?" she stammered, still trying to put her finger on who he was exactly. He just seemed so familiar, yet she didn't know why. In the same monotone voice, the bluenette replied with, "Kise-kun and I went to the same middle school. We were on the same basketball team." Emiko snapped her fingers as she finally remembered where he was from. Kuroko Tetsuya, phantom sixth man of the Teiko Basketball Club. It was kind of painful to admit, but how had she not remembered him, she could've swore Kise spoke about him to her at the studios in middle school.

"T.. Teiko?" she looked at him a little awkwardly as she felt the name slip out of her mouth. Emiko had never liked that school, so bringing back the memories of middle school was a little… painful. She gave a weak smile. "Oh yes… I remember who you are now. Kuroko Tetsuya, phantom sixth man of the Generation of Miracles." she said, and he gave her a small nod. "If you'll excuse me… I have to go back to training which starts in no time at all so if I could… I'm gonna go…" she stuttered, before turning on her heel and running back towards the gym.

She knew it was rude of her to run off in such a manner, but Emiko really wasn't ready to start talking to people from that school. The brunette had only just started talking to Kise Ryouta, a friend of hers from middle school and also a co-worker of hers when she happened to have done some part time modelling for the same modelling company he worked for. But when she thought about her time at Teiko, nothing but bad thoughts played in her head. She wasn't ready to face them again.

* * *

"Okay, so your first tournament is in two weeks time…" Riko announced to the two teams, her head turning to the sound of the door opening and revealing Emiko. "You're late Emiko, hurry in." the brunette said sternly, ushering her in. The smaller brunette gave a small apologetic nod and hurried in. "As I was saying, first tournament of the year begins in two weeks. That means, we really need to step up our training if we're to actually make it somewhere…" Riko gave a small smirk, signalling she meant business. She nodded to Hyuuga, who was the boys' captain, who then sighed and reluctantly stood in front of the group.

"Everyone on the baseline!" Riko yelled, and everyone immediately obliged. Emiko, who was feeling a little heavy on her feet, was the last one to make it there. "Ah, Emi, for being the last one there, I'd like ten pushups, right where you are." The brunette stared at her coach for a few moments before feeling her feet buckle from underneath her, landing straight on the floor, putting her hands out to brace herself for the impact. Giving a defeated smile as everyone rushed around her, Kyoko was the first one to reach her and help her up. Riko shouted something about taking her to the infirmary, but Emiko couldn't hear anything.

As she felt herself droop next to Kyoko as they walked down the hall towards the infirmary, she felt the feeling of Kyoko shaking her head. "God damn it pancake, I told you not to overwork yourself. If you weren't feeling up to it, then why did you bother to come to training?" she scolded Emiko, opening the door of the infirmary and helping her inside. Emiko let out a small sigh, her head down with her fringe covering her eyes. She had been at this basketball thing for a little while now training and spending all her time with her sister, but she still didn't feel any talent blooming from herself. All the brunette could think was how utterly useless she was to the team.

Kyoko raised an eyebrow at her friend, before karate chopping her over the head. "See what I mean by you're a moron?! You're always doubting yourself! I knew what I wanted when I decided to make this team, and there was enough people who signed up, so if I really didn't want you here do you think you would have been chosen? I asked Riko to choose the best players she could for me, and you're one of them." she said sternly, putting her hands on her hips like she usually did when she became serious. Emiko's now wide eyes immediately looked up at the taller purplette who was standing above her.

The brunette's usual need to protest began to fade out. "But… I can't even get my shots in…" she whispered, her eyes returning to the ground. "So?" Kyoko asked her, kneeling down in front of her, so that their eyes were level. "Do you think I was perfect when I started out? Emiko, you don't know how many years I've been playing basketball for. I'm not even at my best now. I know how you feel, as weird as it must sound to you." Emi, who now had her full attention on Kyoko, watched as she let out a sigh. As the brunette went to open her mouth again, Kyoko put her hand up to the smaller girl's mouth as if to silence her.

"Look, I'm already being weirdly unnaturally stern with you, and I'm not here to lecture you." Kyoko told her, pausing for a few moments before continuing. "I just want you to think about this. You have to think about whether you really want this or not, because you can't go into a tournament not knowing how you feel about basketball. I know it's a big question, and you don't have to answer it now. But before the two weeks are over and the Inter High begins, I want to know, do you _really _want to play basketball? Not whether or not you think you'll be a good basketballer, I want to know do you want to play basketball, the game itself."

Kyoko looked at the girl for a few seconds, before Emiko watched her turn on her heel and exit the infirmary. The brunette looked at the now closed door for a few seconds, before slowly getting to her feet. Her body was slowly beginning to recover from the strain she had put on it, but it would be a slow recovery considering the amount of pressure she had put on her muscles to perform at her best. The brunette let out another small sigh before realising she needed to go back to the gym to grab her stuff.

As she thought about it as she walked down the hall to the gym, it was a little embarrassing facing everyone so quickly after what had happened, but as the brunette also knew, hiding wouldn't solve anything either. Walking also helped her think things through a lot better than most other things, and the one thing she couldn't get out of her mind was what Kyoko said. Did she really feel that passionately about basketball? The way she spoke, it was like she felt the same way that Emiko did. Why would someone like her feel that she wasn't good enough? Maybe one day the answer would come, or maybe it wouldn't, but without even needing to think it through properly, the brunette already knew what her answer was to Kyoko's question.

* * *

As she pushed the door open the gym, she wondered why everything sounded so silent. Where was the usual squeaking of everyone's basketball shoes and the usual sound of everyone yelling out directions to each other. As the door open further, the situation came into light. Both teams, the girl's basketball team and the male basketball team was crowded around a familiar blond haired figure. Suddenly she completely forgot why she had even come into the gym and what she had come to tell Kyoko, and her eyes were now wide with shock when she realised who was here.

"K… Kise?!" Emiko exclaimed, looking at him with a look of complete and utter shock. "What are you doing here?" The crowd of both teams now had their eyes fixed on the brunette who had now just spoken, including the blond known as Kise Ryouta. Immediately, he gave a smile, running over to her and holding her hands in-between his, almost like a sandwich. "Emicchi~! It's been a whileeee~!" he cheerfully chirped, the eyes of everyone in the room turning towards the pair with absolute confusion.

How even did those two know each other? was the only thought that crossed the group's mind.


	5. Ch 5 - Why Did You Leave?

"What?!" everyone chorused, still shocked by this sudden revelation. "How do you know Kise?!" Hyuga exclaimed, pointing a finger at Emiko while his mouth hung open in shock. Riko, who was usually pretty straight faced, also looked a little shocked herself. Of course, since Kyoko was a foreign student, she had no idea what these people were going on about. She still didn't even understand why he was here to be honest. Emiko gave an awkward smile to Kise before turning her attention to the shocked crowd of people also known as Seirin's girl's and boy's basketball team.

"I can explain." Emi smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck out of habit. She thought that maybe the gawking team deserved an explaination, considering the faces that they were giving her right now, but honestly, Emiko was a little surprised they hadn't already lined up the pieces. Kise happened to be a model and she happened to be an ex idol, why would they not know each other? "Kise and I have done some work together in the past, I'm surprised that you didn't pick up on that…" she said, letting out a sigh. Everyone soon followed with their own sighs, all of them seeming rather relieved.

"That's right, Emicchi and I…" he began grinning, before he was cut of by Emiko elbowing him straight in the stomach. "Can you pretty please get rid of that nickname? It's terrible." she said sweetly, although an irritated aura was growing around her. Kise scratched the back of his neck apologetically. "Sorry, Emici… I mean Emi!" he apologised, before turning his attention back to the group along with the smaller brunette now standing beside him.

"Anyway, since I've done talking to you guys about what I needed to tell you, I have a question to ask you Emi…" he said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "Why are you here, of all places? And why… are you wearing a Seirin training uniform?" he asked curiously, almost like an innocent puppy dog. She gave him a small smile and gestured towards the Seirin basketball teams. "I joined the basketball team~!" she said excitedly, her smile turning into a frown soon afterwards when Kise stifled back a laugh.

"You? Join the basketball team? Forgive me for laughing, Emicchi, but you're about as athletically inclined as Kurokocchi!" he laughed, his eyes growing wide when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. "Was that meant to be an insult?" Kuroko said in his monotone voice, causing Kise to jump forward a little. "Kurokocchi! Don't sneak up on me like that… O… Of course not…!" he exclaimed, smiling at his former team mate gently, before returning his attention back to the now furious Emiko.

"Why do you always have to make fun of what I do!" she exclaimed, her cheeks puffed up furiously. Why did he always have to compare her old self with everything? was all she could think. "For your information, I've been training to increase my stamina every day of the week with my sister! Do you know who my sister is? Yeah, now someone throw me a ball someone." As Kyoko passed her the ball, Emi lined herself up on the three point like that was not far from her, before flicking the ball straight through the hoop. As the ball bounded on the group, Emiko grabbed the bags she needed from earlier before exiting the gym without another word, leaving the group, including Kise, dumbfounded.

* * *

The Seirin team was now getting ready to pack up for the day, and Kyoko was getting impatient. Where was that idiot Kagami when she wanted him. Watching as the boys team piled out, she waited till the last person, also known as Kagami, was near the entrance of the gym before pulling him back to face her. "Hey idiot, I want you to challenge me to a one on one, like old times. Unless you're too much of an idiot to comprehend what that means." she said harshly, causing him to frown. The gym was now empty, and all that could be heard was the echoes of their voices around the gym. It was weird, standing in a gym with someone Kyoko used to call her best friend.

"Big talk coming from someone like you, moron." he said simply, before taking the basketball out of her hands and walking over to the centre court line. She gave a determined grin, before following after the boy. As she stood to defend him, he gave a cocky grin, causing her to frown a little. "I don't want you underestimating me like you always have. I've gotten better y'know." she grinned, before flicking the ball out from Kagami's hands and dribbling the ball down to the basket. Just as she was about to shoot, the tall figure of Kagami stood in front of her to block her shot.

"You thought I was that easy to get rid of?" he smirked, Kyoko quickly using his ego to quickly step under Kagami to get her shot in. She gasped as the ball hit the side of the ring, and was quickly collected up by Kagami. Taking off rather fast, Kyoko only just made it in time to defend the taller player. Although her defence may have been strong, it wasn't good enough to stop the powerful figure from running past her and scoring a goal. The fast pace Kagami had set caused Kyoko to go flying backwards into the gym wall as her feet tripped over each other. Feeling slightly disappointed in herself for losing so easily, especially to someone like Kagami. As he approached her, she felt herself slide further down the wall, and put her head down.

"What happened to, 'I've gotten better'." he said, looking at her with an almost sarcastic expression. She hated it when he mocked her like this, it was something she couldn't handle. "Just don't." Kyoko said simply, still keeping her eyes fixated on the ground. Ever since they were kids, Kagami had always been outdoing her in everything she did to do with basketball. She had enough of that with her younger sister being the smarter, prettier and more talented version of herself, and having someone like Kagami do it to herself was just painful. The problem was, the boy never used to treat her this way. He used to be so encouraging of her basketball skills, always telling her to push herself and become the best. Now all he did was criticise her.

"And when did you become suck a dick?" she murmured, deciding to look up at him. Kyoko slowly slid her back up the wall until she was in a standing position. She wasn't exactly the tallest girl, so standing in front of Kagami was a little intimidating. "Oh wait, when you forgot to tell me that you were moving from America to Japan. Why did you do that to me, Kagami? You left me standing on that court every afternoon by myself in the rain. Do you not give a shit for anyone but yourself?!" she screamed, her emotions now running wild. "If you had the common intelligence to inform a friend that you were moving away, maybe I wouldn't hate you as much as I do now!"

The purplette thought back to the endless afternoons of rain and standing all alone on those courts, bouncing the basketball all alone, shooting hoops all alone. There was one person she'd always wait for every afternoon, who had told her they would show up, but he never came. The one person who had believed she could be better than her sister at something, and motivated her to play the sport, wouldn't even keep their promise to show up and play with her. About a month of spending her time alone at the court finally gave her the message that he wasn't coming back. Even though it upset her, Kyoko had to give up on that friend of hers, and to be honest, she never would have thought that someone like him would show up at this school when she had moved to Japan. Maybe it was fate for her to give him hell for what he did.

Kyoko felt a small tear slip from her eye, but did her best to hide it. Kagami had been silent the whole time, showing no falter in his emotions as she yelled at him. When she had finally finish speaking, he felt no need for him to say any words to comfort her. There weren't any excuses he could make for his actions, and maybe hating him would fuel her to play her game better. Kagami was pretty bad with his emotions, so of course, he thought walking away would be the best thing to do. Dropping the basketball from his hands, Kyoko listened as his steps got fainter and fainter, until the sound of the gym door closing could be heard. "Go on… Run away like you always do…" she whispered, wiping a tear from her eye before gathering herself up and soon exiting the gym herself.

* * *

Emi had been waiting outside the gym for what had seemed like hours. Her eyes lit up with hope as she saw the door open, but became disappointed when she realised it was only Kagami. "Um, Kagami-sa…" she began, but he seemed in a hurry to get out of the place. Deciding it would be best to just leave it, Emiko began waiting for Kyoko once again. When she had nearly given up waiting, the sound of the door opening slowly came to ear. Emiko jumped up excitedly as she realised who it was. She smiled at the purplette who had not yet noticed her… wait, she hadn't noticed her yet?! The brunette had to admit, she did seem a little… off. She didn't feel like it was her place to ask, but she didn't want her friend looking down like this and she was a little worried.

"Hey um, Kyoko? Is everything okay?" she asked, and the girl looked up. Emiko gasped a little when it looked like she had been crying. Her eyes were red and she looked exhausted, something that wasn't normal at all. "I… I'm fine… moron." she smiled weakly, messing up her curly hair. Emiko gave a gentle smile at her friend that was trying so hard to look okay. Something had happened in that gym, she was sure of it, but she didn't want to make her cry anymore than she had been.

"Well uh, I stayed because I have some news to tell you that I didn't get to give you earlier… Kise is a meanie when he wants to be." she said, once again puffing her cheeks out, causing Kyoko to laugh. "Remember what you said to me… In the infirmary not long ago? Well um, I've made up my mind. I wanna play basketball, not because I want to be good, but because I want to play with you guys!" she said excitedly, and Kyoko's weak smile seemed to drop a little more. Emiko panicked a little, but was reassured when the purplette gave a small nod. "I'm glad, pancake… but um… right now… if you'll excuse me…" she said slowly, before taking off out of the school gates. It happened all too fast for Emiko to react, so by the time she had made it to the school gate, she was gone.

* * *

As she walked home, Emi decided that maybe she might check her messages from the past hour. All she could see was ten missed calls and a ton of voice mail recordings… from Kise. Man, he was a pain in the butt. As she held the phone up to her ear, all she could hear was the piercing sound of Kise's voice apologising repeatedly. She went through the messages one by one, almost laughing as she listened to him repeat the same words over and over again. Although he may have been a dork, she did really like him, and there was a reason that she was friends with him. Feeling bad for yelling at him earlier, Emiko quickly texted him an apology and closed her phone.

As she continued to walk, her thoughts were back on the phone. There had been a number that had called her that was unknown. Usually, she wouldn't even bother calling back someone who wasn't even listed in her phone, but today she was feeling a little curious. Clicking on the unknown number, she waited as the phone rang. Almost giving up on the person after a minute, the sound of someone picking up on the other line could be heard. "Hello?" the voice said, and Emiko's face turned from a curious smile to a scowl.

"Bastard." she growled, before hanging up again and snapping the phone in half and tossing it in the nearest trashcan. Good thing she had ordered a new one two days ago, because there was no way she wanted that person knowing her number, and there was no way that he of all people would ever be finding it again.


	6. Ch 6 - The Door You Opened

"What did you say about me?!" Kyoko exclaimed, looking at the girls who were now crowding around her, giggling and whispering. The young girl stood there, all alone, with no one to help her. She was always bullied, everyday that she came to school, so this situation wasn't too out of the norm for her. As her temper flared up, the purplette was approached by the head of the group, a pretty, intelligent and well liked girl by the name of Nanami Kotobuki. She was the class rep, and was probably one of the most liked girls in the school, and knew that Kyoko was the perfect target to bully. Kyoko on the other hand, was a rather lanky and awkward girl who had no noticeable talents except for being able to eat unnatural amounts of food in a short amount of time.

"Look at you, you're so pathetic." Haruka smirked, lifting up Kyoko's chin so that their eyes met. Her blonde hair was only just touching the other girl's cheek. "You're not even pretty, you don't have any talent whatsoever, and no one likes you. Why can't you be more like your sister, Kyoko Takahashi?" The purplette was nearly over the edge, but still, she told herself not to fight back. It aggravated her, hearing that sentence. Why did everyone always expect her to be someone she wasn't? Shouldn't a younger sister aspire to be like her older sister, not the other way around? But what was a girl meant to do when there wasn't anything for her to be better at.

Cringing a little as she slapped away the hand of the blonde, Kyoko watched as the girl's smirk grew into a scowl, and she immediately regretting her decision. As she turned to run away, the purplette watched as the crowd of girl's closed in on her, and she felt herself being trapped in. Letting out a sigh, she knew what was going to happen next. Haruka clicked her fingers as she approached Kyoko, two girls following close behind her. The blonde gave a swift nod, and the girl to the right of her gave Kyoko a swift punch straight in the stomach, causing her to double over and hold her stomach. Haruka used her foot to hold up the girl's chin, the same smirk still on her face.

No matter how much the purplette wanted to run, she knew it was impossible. "Don't touch me, you're filthy." she laughed, before dropping her foot from her chin. As Kyoko closed her eyes, she felt people kicking her, calling her names and tugging at her hair. She knew that crying out for help would do nothing but fuel their hatred, so she had to endure the pain. It was all the same, it wasn't anything new, but it hurt. All the purplette could think about right at that moment was whether anyone would care to help her out one day, or what her parents would say when she yet again came home with bloody arms and bruised legs.

* * *

"Sis, what happened?!" Mayumi Takahashi, the youngest daughter of the Takahashi family and also Kyoko's sister, exclaimed when she saw the bloodied and bruised girl walk through the door. The purplette dropped her bag at the door and felt her legs fall out from underneath her. Mayu was not who she wanted to see right now of all people. As her sister ran to get her parents, Kyoko let out an exasperated sigh. Now was going to come all the questions, all the lecturing and the punishments, and she just didn't want to deal with it right now. Picking herself up from the ground, she ignored the sighs of her parents as she slowly and painfully made her way up the stairs to her room.

After about five minutes, Kyoko felt a faint knock on the door. "Come in." she groaned, and the small figure of her younger sister was revealed. The older sibling gave a weak smile as her sister walked in with a first aid kit and a bunch of snacks. Giving a lopsided smile, Mayumi help up the box of medical supplies as well as the bag of food. "Will you let me tend to your wounds? You can have this bag of snacks in return!" she laughed, trying to persuade her sister to get off her bed and let her look after her. Kyoko returned the grin to her sister and stood up from her bed quite weakly. "You betcha, pancake!" she grinned as the bag of snacks was handed to her and she was ushered over to her desk chair.

The elder sibling sighed once again as she watched her sister disinfect her wounds and clean the blood of her leg and arms. There she went again, being the perfect Mayumi Takahashi that everyone knew. Kyoko loved her sister, there was no doubt about that, but it was so hard having to be in the shadow of someone like Mayu. She was pretty unlike Kyoko, she had A grades in every subject at school, and everyone loved the gentle and kind girl. The purplette cringed as the disinfectant sunk into a deeper wound. "Sorry sis." she smiled apologetically, as she bandaged up her leg. "It didn't hurt that much silly!" Kyoko laughed, fluffing up the younger girl's pale blonde hair. Mayu shook her head at the older girl.

"No… I'm sorry for all of this… If I wasn't your sister… This wouldn't happen…" the girl said quietly, looking down at the ground as she stood up. Kyoko rose from her chair and embraced her sister, trying to make her feel better. "Mayu, don't think it's your fault, because it's not." the purplette whispered. The girl knew that in her heart, no matter how much she wanted to believe it wasn't true, that it was her fault this was happening. "It's my fault for not being worthy of being your sister…" she said quietly as a silent tear fell from her eye to the floor.

* * *

The purplette leaned back into her chair and let out a huge breath. Today she had decided to skip school, and her father was sitting downstairs waiting for her to come out. After not eating dinner and also ignoring his various attempts of getting her out of her room, her father was now on the edge on what to do with Kyoko. The purplette stood up and stretched out her back, before opening the door to her room and stepping outside. As she sighed, she knew that her father was the least likely person she could run away from, so facing him sooner than later was the better idea.

She wandered into the living room where she knew of course her father was waiting for her. Even though these talks happened all the time, Kyoko knew that she was never going to get used to them. As she waltzed into the living room keeping her usual carefree facade as she flopped onto the couch in front of her father, she let out a sigh of pretend boredom. "Well, I'm here now. Say what you have to say, like usual. " Kyoko said boredly, causing her father to frown even more than they already were. _Smooth move genius…_ Kyoko thought to herself, as she waited for her father to begin lecturing her.

"Kyoko… There we go again." her dad began, his voice strong and stern. "You could start by getting rid of the attitude. That's half the reason people don't like you." Kyoko raised an eyebrow, feeling that he expected her to believe that complete and utter bullshit. "If that were the case, maybe I would change that, but it's not." she said, keeping her eyes away from her father. He put a hand to his head. She knew he was sick of trying to talk some sense into her, and she felt like she should just tell him to give up. But of course, no matter when she actually had, he still apparently needed to keep his role as a parent, and continued with the pointless lectures.

He stood up and took a deep breath. "If you were more like Mayu… then maybe you wouldn't have this problem…" he said quietly, before turning her back to her. Kyoko flung herself up from the couch angrily, stamping her foot on the ground. "Don't just walk away you coward." she told him, and he spun around, a frown on his face. "Kyoko… Don't you dare…" he began, but the purplette cut him off. "Don't I dare what? Not be good at everything? Not be Mayu. Last time I checked, my name wasn't Mayu, so maybe if you stopped expecting people to be someone they're not, then maybe people would like YOU better." she snarled, before turning her back to him. "And maybe, Mom wouldn't have left if you didn't expect her to be someone she's not." Kyoko felt herself start to cry, and quickly ran for the front door before slamming it behind her.

* * *

When she had finally stopped running, Kyoko had found herself standing outside of a basketball court. With tears in her eyes, she starred at the one boy who was shooting into the basket, and almost getting all of them in. The purplette didn't know much about the sport, so she didn't really know what he was trying to do when he grabbed the ring with one hand and shoved the ball through it with the other. Was he trying to break the hoop. Letting out a small giggle, she wiped a tear from her eyes. He just looked so silly and she couldn't help but laugh. Just as Kyoko was going to speak up and ask him what he was doing, he turned around and beat her to it.

"What do you want?" the boy asked her, his eyes almost like a wild tiger. She wiped her eyes a few times to hide the fact she was crying before responding. "I was just wanting to know what you were doing with the ball just then, moron…" she said awkwardly, crossing her arms and trying to act rather tough. He looked at her like she was crazy for a few seconds, before doing what he had done earlier once again, grabbing the ball and shoving it through the hoop. "Do you mean that, moron?" he responded sarcastically, and she nodded. "Come in here and I'll show you how to do one yourself. Hurry up, I have my own practise to do." he said grumpily, and Kyoko scurried over to him.

He threw her the ball rather strongly, leaving her a little taken aback. The boy smirked at her, causing her to frown. "I don't play basketball, so don't look at me like that… moron." she mumbled, him completely ignoring that fact and continuing on. "You see that hoop, you use it to score goals. Do you know what a goal is?" he asked her, and she kicked him in the leg. The boy took this as a yes and proceeded to demonstrate. "When you run up to the basket, dribbling the ball if you know what that is, and you basically just jump as high as you can and throw the ball in. I said throw the ball in because you're a midget and you'll never reach that hoop."

Kyoko took this insult as a challenge and began by bouncing the ball. She was a little bit all over the place, but she had a rather strong arm for someone who had never played before. As she ran up to the hoop, she took the boy's advice and jumped as high as she could. Of course, as he had said she wouldn't be able to reach the hoop, and he was right, but somehow the purplette had managed to get the ball in the basket. Jumping up and down excitedly, the boy stared at her for a few seconds before opening his mouth again.

"Not bad for a rookie I guess. You'll be good if you put your heart into it. Never going to be as good as me though." he smirked, and the purplette gave him a goofy grin. Although it had seemed far fetched at the time, Kyoko felt that maybe she had the potential to finally be good at something. "Hey, moron. Would you mind if I came and played games with here in the afternoons after school?" she asked, and he bounced the ball that he had picked up from the ground. "Just don't hold me back." he said simply, passing the ball back to her once again.

"You can keep that." he said, before turning to exit the basketball courts. Kyoko watched as he walked away, before clearing her throat. "Hey moron, wait a second!" she exclaimed, throwing the basketball at his head to make sure she got his attention. "Owh, what was that…" he began to yell, but Kyoko once again cut him off, like she did with many people. "What's your name, I'm Kyoko Takahashi!" she grinned, and the boy gave her a small smile in return before replying to the girl.

"The name's Kagami Taiga. You better remember it, Kyoko Takahashi." he grinned, and Kyoko smiled back. Someone had finally acknowledged her with her real name, without any of the 'be like your sister' business. It was a good feeling to know that something saw something in her. "I will, because you're the first person to see me… for me." He looked at her like she was crazy, and he honestly didn't know what she was talking about, but reluctantly let her walk the rest of the way home with him. And that was how Kyoko Takahashi started her journey onto becoming one of the best female basketball players of her age.


	7. Ch 7 - The Sweet Taste of Victory

"Gonna be late gonna be late!" Emiko yelled as she ran around the house pulling her Seirin jersey and running to find her sport shoes. She pulled her hair up in her usual ponytails while trying to shove a piece of toast in her mouth. The girl had woken up a little later than she had actually expected, and right now she only had ten minutes to run down to the sports centre which happened to not be too far away from her house. With her laces untied and only half of her hair up, the small brunette ran into her elder sibling's room see her sister, who had been woken up by her hurrying younger sister.

"Wish me luck sis!" she cheered, and Maya motioned her arms to tell Emiko to come towards her. Quickly, the brunette ran over to her bed-ridden sister and embraced her in a hug. "I don't need to wish you luck, you've got this in the bag. Afterall, you are my sister." she grinned, and Emiko gave her an even bigger grin in return. "You got it sis! I'm not going to let you down, I promise!" The brunette waved as she ran out of the room and down the stairs. She ended up tripping and face planting into the floor, but quickly gathered herself up and ran out the door, almost slamming it behind her.

As she ran, she wondered what the competition would be like. Although it may have exhausted her, she still kept up that strict training routine in order to be at her best for the competition. The brunette was still pretty surprised that she had been chosen out of all the girls that she could have chose for the team, but even so she was still overly flattered by Kyoko's willingness to help her out. Speaking of Kyoko, Emiko had not been paying attention to her surroundings and had now ran straight into the purplette she knew as her basketball captain.

"Are you okay?" Emiko panicked, helping the taller girl up and making sure she hadn't hurt anything. Kyoko luckily shook her head and grabbed onto the smaller brunette's arm. "We're gonna be late, it doesn't matter if I'm okay or not pancake." she said casually, as she ran along pulling Emi behind her. Emiko frowned a little as she always did when Kyoko called her such names, but knew that she was right in the respect that they were going to be late. Reluctantly, Emiko began to run faster, as she knew the time was now ticking away. She was just hoping to god that Riko wouldn't attack them and leave them incapable of playing the game.

* * *

"Where were you two?" Riko scolded, and the two put their heads down apologetically. "I slept in…" they both said in unison, causing each other to look at one another before letting out a laugh. The only problem was, Riko didn't find this a laughing matter and hit the girls over the head with the clipboard she happened to be holding. "You two are part of our starting lineup, can you imagine what would of happened if you had missed the game as well as the opening ceremony." she said sternly, before letting out a sigh. "Look, just don't do it next time." she breathed, and turned her attention to both the teams that were separated in their respective gender groups.

"Okay, Hyuga and Kyoko, here are your respective lineups for the day. Unfortunately the boys team, you will be having two games today instead of one. It will be a challenge, but I know that you guys can do it." she smiled, and the boys team looked around at each other a little worriedly. The girls even looked a bit worried about having to play one game anyway. Kyoko looked over at Kagami, who looked like his usual arrogant self as he smirked at the results._ Two games is more than enough to fill his ego to the brim… _she thought to herself, before trying to forget he existed once again.

Riko, who had been discussing the matter of the two games and the deal involving starting line ups and whatnot, now had turned her attention to the Seirin girl's team. "Although you guys may only be playing one game, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy. You guys are first off, and you really need to prove to the school that we can have a girl's team that does just as well as the boys team." she said, Emiko looking over at Kyoko who was now smirking at Riko's comment. "I wouldn't let a bunch of egotistical boys who think they're good get in my way. I'll show you all that girls play ball better than guys." she laughed, before throwing the basketball she had in her hands over her head and straight into Kagami's face.

"Hey, what was that for!" he snarled, and she just laughed and walked off. Everyone was a little surprised by Kyoko's sudden change in attitude, but both the teams followed after her due to the fact that the girl's game of the day was up first. Emiko could feel her hands shaking uncontrollably as she walked, and she honestly was begging those baskets to let her shots go in. Today was the day to see whether she was to be a worthy basketball player or not, and today was where she showed everyone she was more than just Emi-chan the famous idol.

* * *

The group of girls known as the Seirin basketball team made their way onto the court, nervous and slightly scared for what the outcome of this game would be. Emiko, who was the girl's team basketball newbie, had never played a game of basketball professionally before, and was already shaking tremendously as she looked around at the huge crowds of people. She was used to having thousands of people watch her at her concerts because she could actually sing, but having people watch her at a basketball game was just a little more than distressing.

After the two teams lined up and said their good lucks and whatever else needed to be said, the five starting girls in the Seirin team stayed on the court as the others wandered off. Kyoko put a hand on the shaking girl and fluffed her hair up. "Pancake, you need to chill out. I've been training you after all. If you're gonna chicken out now then what was the point in all of that work, huh?" the purplette said, squeezing the small brunettes cheeks and laughing. As Emiko protested, the two girls failed to notice a girl that was now approaching them. When Kyoko turned around, Emiko watched as her body tensed up. _Was she okay? _Emiko panicked, but couldn't say anything at the sight of this girl.

"Well you don't say, look who it is. Kyoko Takahashi." a blonde, foreign looking girl said softly, in an almost mocking tone. Although she didn't know her, the small brunette could tell that she and Kyoko had not a quite so nice history. "I don't have anything to say to you, you blonde bimbo." Kyoko said harshly, and the blonde's face turned from a mocking smile into a disgusted scowl. "Don't talk to me like that you…" she began, Kyoko putting one finger to the girl's lips. "I don't care what you have to say, let's just settle this with basketball, shall we not? You said I wasn't good at anything remember, you shouldn't feel the least bit threatened of me." the purplette smirked, before turning her attention to the ref who was now on the court.

"Kyoko, who is she?" Emiko asked quietly, tugging at her uniform. Kyoko spun around to whisper in the small brunette's ear. "Well, I guess you could say she's a childhood acquaintence, more so, a childhood bully." she said, in an almost monotone voice. "But, I'm not afraid of her anymore. I mean, have you seen my skills with a basketball, she won't stand a chance." Emiko laughed at her friend. Although other people may have found Kyoko's attitude a little cocky, the girl felt that the purplette was just psyching herself out before she played her games. Besides, what was wrong with having a bit of confidence in yourself?

One of the other girls on the Seirin team, a tall and lanky girl by the name of Misaki Wakahasi, pushed Kyoko forward as the ref held up the ball in the middle of the court. Although Misaki may have been the tallest on the team, the girl was rather quiet and didn't like too much attention being drawn to herself, so she always felt a little uncomfortable about participating in the jump ball. As the blonde from earlier approached Kyoko on the other side of the line, Kyoko gave another determined grin. It will be nice when she beats this girl and can feel the sweet taste of victory over the girl who used to make her life miserable. As the ref called out the sides each team would be shooting on and threw the ball up, the two girls jumped up high, Kyoko having the upper hand and flicking the ball to Emiko.

I caught it! Emiko thought to herself triumphantly, before pausing for a few moments. The girls were now all crowding around her as she stood still. Now that she had the ball, what was she meant to do with it? "Run Emiko!" Kyoko called out, and Emiko's nerves calmed down a little. Giving a sharp nod, the brunette somehow maundered herself around all the girls who were defending her, and started dribbling the ball down the court. Kyoko called her name a few times, signalling for her to pass off to her. The girl flicked the ball over to Kyoko who powerfully drived through the two girls defending her and scored a goal by slam dunking it. Emiko could never get over how powerful Kyoko's shots were.

"How'd you like that, Elisa?" she laughed, and the beautiful blonde girl from earlier gave a scowl, before turning her back to her. Well, although she felt like she was only retaliating for all those years of being bullied by her, Kyoko knew that this was her time to get back at the girl, and she wasn't going to let it go to waste. She let out a mocking laugh as she began to defend the other team's ball carrier. The taste of victory was one step closer, was all Kyoko thought every time she made a shot, but getting one over an enemy was much more sweeter.

* * *

It was now two minutes to go, the girls were sweating heavily, and with a ten point difference, Kyoko could feel the victory coming on. It was a little less of a margin than she had hoped for, but for someone like her it didn't matter as long as she won. Emiko's nerves had also began to calm down, but still could be felt in her stomach. "Emiko, here!" one of her team members, an average height girl by the name of Ai Tokohashi, a cheerful and rather friendly girl who never had anything bad to say about anyone. As the ball flew into Emiko's hands, she quickly positioned it nicely into her hands before flicking it up into the air. The sound of the point buzzer went off and the crowd cheered once again. "Emi-chan we love you!" along with many other compliments could be heard from the stands. She blushed a little bit embarrassedly, but appreciated the support. One girl in particular was not happy at all.

"Emi-chan this, Emi-chan that, you know this is a basketball stadium not a stage you idiot." she hissed, and the small brunette took a step back. When the girl raised her hand to hit her, Emiko closed her eyes and waited for the impact, but it never came. As she slightly opened her eyes, she realised that Kyoko had stepped in front and grabbed her arm. The blonde became even more furious, ripping her hand from Kyoko's grasp and pushing her backwards. "Don't touch me, you're filthy!" she screamed, and the purplette looked a little taken aback, along with the now silent Kyoko. As she went to open her mouth to say something, the blonde pushed her, causing her to fall straight onto the ground. Cringing a little in pain, she watched as the umpire blew the whistle and told the now furious Elisa to go sit on the bench. The whole entire crowd booed as she walked off the court, and Emiko immediately went to the Kyoko's side

"Hey are you okay?" she said quietly, and she gave her a goofy grin. "Yeah of course I am, look the game's over… now!" Kyoko exclaimed happily as the siren rang through the gym. The team members, including the boy's Seirin team were cheering, along with a very happy coach Riko. Surprisingly enough, Kyoko had only bruised her ankle, and had to be helped off the court by a reluctant Kagami. The purplette was about to protest when he helped her up, but she realised that this was no time to be angry, and kept her hatred in just this once.

Besides, the taste of victory was much better than hate, was it not?


End file.
